Sunday, 23 May 2010

The trailer for Solomon Kane was excellent and I was determined to watch it at the cinema a couple of months ago so that I could really appreciate the action. I also loved the title... it was easy, effective, and a reminder of some of my other favourite male-lead films such as King Arthur, Robocop, Terminator etc

I also thought it was about time that James Purefoy landed the lead role in a medieval-action-adventure film as I'd often seen him in semi-lead roles and thought he was always a very convincing actor. I could not imagine this film being anything but good...but I was so disappointed!The first 15 minutes of the film was an assuring indication that the film was going to be good. James Purefoy's character, Solomon Kane, and his army are in battle and victoriously enter a fortress which leads to a room of gold. However, by the time they get there, most of his men are killed by demons and Solomon Kane finds himself locked in a room with the Devil's Reaper...who wields a flaming sword and actually looks like a very exciting character! Solomon Kane is told that he has done so much evil, that his soul is destined only for Hell. Solomon Kane does not believe he is ready to die yet and escapes by jumping out of the window - which while I type seems absolutely ridiculous as you wouldn't think you could escape the Devil's Reaper so easily! However, the Devil's Reaper loudly declares that Solomon Kane's soul will soon belong to the Devil.Solomon Kane is clearly affected by his encounter with the Devil's Reaper and plans to live the rest of his life in a monastery. However, his plan is short lived as he is asked to leave because through dreams, they believe he has a different destiny.

Anyway, I won't explain much more of the plot, which was actually quite good, even if a little predictable...but the execution of the story completely ruined it. The pace was strange and the editing was terrible - and for someone who doesn't know anything about film editing, I picked up on it straight away! James Purefoy's acting may have just 'saved' the film for me and the cameo appearance of Pete Postlethwaitemade the film credible, but when a scene was starting to pick up, it would cut to another scene. The girl was also a terrible actress and every time she was on screen, I lapsed back to noticing all the annoying flaws in the film... and an evil sorcerer portrayed by Jason Flemyng just looked ridiculous...I mean, just look!! And while on the subject of ridiculous looking characters, there is a huge demon near the end of the film who is sent by the Devil to claim Solomon Kane's soul, but it looked like a toy! Nevertheless, even though a majority of the film was a nuisance, I would still recommend watching the film just so you can see James Purefoy's great performance which makes all the other actors (apart from Pete Postlethwaite) look like amateurs.

Thursday, 20 May 2010

This is the last entry I have on Fall 2010 and it is ending with Sonia Rykiel! As soon as I laid my eyes on the pom-pom head pieces I knew I would love this collection! The mix of gauzy and chunky knits looked so cozy and I adored the dominant apricot and mushroom colour palette which was spiced with royal blue and multicoloured stripes. At the end of the show, all the models came out in feathered dresses (that I must have!!!) and the fur trimmed clogs were just delightful!!!

Sunday, 16 May 2010

This is the second to last entry I have on the FALL 2010 shows! I just had to show my favourite pieces from the Manish Arora collection, just for the sheer uniqueness in his work...you just have to look at it to know what I mean!I've always liked the collections by Giles Deacon, and he didn't disappoint this season. I don't usually like pastel coloured garments and that peach coloured coat would have really put me off the collection as a whole if it wasn't for the mix of chamoise, dove grey, taupe and chocolate to tone it down. The charm embellishment reminded me of a piece in Dolce & Gabanna's collection which I've mentioned in a previous entry but I liked how it was used as a trim, rather than an all over embellishment. The tiny scallop detailing was adorably subtle but still made an impact on what I thought about the collection.And lastly, Miu Miu. I loved this collection instantly (compared to many of my colleagues), the silhouette and the embellishments looked really fresh and I liked the under bust cutout details which was an obvious nod towards the mainline collection, Prada.

Sunday, 9 May 2010

As I live in London, and there are so many places to go, so many places to see, so many things to do... I thought it would be fitting to do reviews on places to eat (which I can predict will be extremely critical), alongside everything else. I have a London category in my blog sidebar which although is currently quite sparse, I hope to build on a bit more!

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with a friend and had dinner at Woo Jung, which is located in Tottenham Court Road. The exterior is cute and welcoming so I was happy to try it out.We went up an extremely narrow staircase to take our seats on the 1st floor and it was all very sweet and oriental looking. We were directed to sit right in the middle, which I hate, so we asked if we could sit on the other table in the corner, but we were refused as it had four seats.

I was quite shocked as I'd never been refused before unless it was reserved, they straight out said 'no' and didn't even seem sorry about it. We thought about leaving but it was such a petty reason so we stayed. We sat in the middle and looked through the menu. I didn't know what most of it was so I asked the waiter to help explain a dish to me, where I didn't know what one of the ingredients were...it had sake and something else. However, the waiter misunderstood my question and thought I was asking what sake was (which I already know) in which he responded that he didn't know! In fact, he didn't know what anything was on the menu! How is one supposed to order without knowing what something is?!! ...and there are no pictures, so I was stuck. My friend decided to just go for what she knew of and I just went for something that sounded imaginable, like the 'chicken broth'. Anyway, my broth wasn't very nice, but my friends' food was nicer so I ended up eating most of hers and she ate most of mine.

As the waiter was clumsily clearing our table, I suddenly had a thought that he was going to spill something on me, and literally a second after, there was sweet chilli sauce all in my lap. I honestly thought the whole thing was a joke and I was purposely being wound up, especially when the waiter was not apologetic at all and didn't give me anything to clean it up!

We quickly asked for the bill which my friend was putting on her card but she said to the waiter that she was not going to pay the mandatory service charge as she thought the service was terrible. I was shocked that the service charge was mandatory, as many restaurants that I go to have optional service charges and this little restaurant suddenly seemed desperate for the extra bit of money. The waiter literally chuckled and shrugged his shoulders while he sorted the card machine for my friend to enter her PIN. I think I chuckled myself as it was all very surreal! I mean, if a customer had said that to me, I would've wanted to know what the problem was so it could be improved on or apologised, right? But no, we got a chuckle and a shrug!

The whole thing seems quite humorous to me now that I am typing it out, but at the time, I was in complete shock. I wouldn't completely cut this restaurant out though, in fact, I have an urge to go again to see if the bad service was a one off or it's always like that! However, as the food was OK, I guess I would still recommend the restaurant, as long as you know Korean dishes by name, don't mind rude waiters, don't mind being sat where you wouldn't like to, and don't mind having food spilt on you.

Saturday, 8 May 2010

To continue my review of some of my favourite FALL 2010 fashion shows, here are pieces from the Kenzo collection which was truly delightful!! There was a consistent 70's theme throughout many of the shows (I will do a round-up of my favourite emerging trends soon) but I think my favourite interpretation of the decade was by Kenzo. It was dreamy and just looking at the pieces made me feel all warm and cozy! The embellishments were beautiful and looked mechanical which I loved! They also looked really fresh on the tailored shapes rather than on dressier pieces. I was blown away by the shearling boots (another trend I will mention soon) and just look at the cheese-slice cut out detail at the back of the wedge!!Wunderkind is a brand I've never really looked at but they definitely caught my attention this season. I never really appreciated how much you could do with a blanket until now and the scarf-print dresses were really cute! I never got bored of the fringing detail and the totem-mask shoes were incredible, I won't ever forget this collection because of them!

Monday, 3 May 2010

I have 11 films currently in draft format that I'm desperately trying to finish and the fact that I am trying to remember everything about each of them is making it very difficult! However, I am adamant that I publish them all, so be ready for a surge in film reviews for the next couple of months!

I watched 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' a few weeks ago and I was completely surprised at how good it was which made me feel so much better about spending £15 /$23 on the cinema ticket, which is double to the standard price!! This happened 'accidently' when I picked a time to watch it with my friend at VUE, but I hadn't realised it was being shown in 'SCENE', which is the luxury screen, hence the much higher price point. The cinema didn't offer a 'normal' showing of the film at all that day and I really wanted to watch it, so we paid and vowed not to go to the cinema for an entire month!In 'SCENE', the extra wide seats are leather, there are tables that have a soft glow, and you can buy alcoholic drinks from the private bar. The latter didn't matter to me as I don't like, or drink alcohol, but it was quite surreal seeing people around me drinking out of a wine glass, rather than slurping from a carton! The seating was extremely comfortable and there was a really lovely atmosphere within the room. However, I feel that the higher price point is predominantly for the use of the bar and several seats are replaced with tables for wine glasses to sit on, instead of people...and neither are of any use to me so I don't think I will ever purposely choose to watch via SCENE again.Anyway, back to my review! The film has an 18 rating and it definitely ticked all the boxes to be so. My friend kept turning away during disturbing scenes which I find incredibly annoying (she will laugh if/when she reads this) but I was close to doing it myself. However, I didn't turn away at any time because I paid to watch the film, so that is what I shall do!

The film is based on a crime-novel by Stieg Larsson and it was so unpredictable (which wasn't surprising, as all non-Hollywood films usually are!) and although I was slightly thrown off by it being in Swedish (I had no idea!) and found it slightly difficult to listen to, I gradually got used to it, forgot I was reading subtitles, and actually became quite fond of the language. My friend and I also found it amusing when an English word was used in the dialogue, but the subtitles had used a synonym instead! I wish I could remember an example as it really gave us the giggles and it happened several times!The lead female character, Lisbeth Salander, played by Noomi Rapace was very impressive. She is a hacker and seems to have no fear, but the latter stems from her having mental problems caused by traumas that have happened all through her life. On a positive note, I guess she is to be perceived as a modern-day heroine as she solves codes and finally saves the day!I found it overall to be a very real and fulfilling film and I didn't even realise that the book is part of a trilogy so I will be right there in the queue when the second film is released!

Sunday, 2 May 2010

I had been using my much adored brown leather John Rocha purse for about 5 years but it finally got to the point where card slots were torn off and the feature button had disappeared, so it was time for a new one! I am very fussy when it comes to purses, it needs to have at least 5 card slots, a slot for my driving licence, a zipped coin compartment and compartments for notes and receipts. I managed to find all of what I needed in this hard case purse from ASOS, and in one of my favourite colours, nude! It is extremely slimline and I'm surprised at how much I can fit inside!

Saturday, 1 May 2010

Yes, it's that time again for another round of my favourite AW10 fashion shows! I always like Stella McCartney's collections and it didn't disappoint this season. The embroidered lace under sheer fabrics was ethereal and when I saw the use of paillettes in the aforementioned format, I was completely in awe! There was something so delicate, effortless and refined about the collection and I'm even more excited to see SS11 now!Vanessa Bruno's collection was a dream! I also find that she is very under-rated. Everything was wearable exactly as it was styled and the cutout details with embellishment and embroidery accenting were my favourite pieces!The collection by Nina Ricci was so fun!! Floral appliques were absolutely everywhere and I was smitten with the red, ruffled bust corset!! The styling was beautiful and the shoes were sophisticatedly cute...this collection was true eye-candy!

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Welcome to my blog! I am a full-time Designer in London for a fashion brand... but also have a whole load of other interests including making anything and everything - click on the huge SHOP sign above to check it all out.Also, feel free to use the tags below to navigate my blog posts!